Tony Benn: Debt of gratitude to Arthur Scargill
Marxist_Mike | 05.08.2002 23:53
THIS week, Arthur Scargill, one of the finest trade union leaders of our generation, retired after a lifetime of service to the National Union of Mineworkers, to the labour movement and to the ideas of socialism.
No man did more than Arthur to defend his members, their families and the communities in which they lived, to protect the environment or to argue for a rational energy policy that took account of the key role that coal should play in the future economy of this country - for all that, we owe him a debt of gratitude.
Having known and worked closely with him over a span of nearly 30 years and enjoyed his friendship, I believe that it is important that we should understand and appreciate what he has done, the truth of what he said and what we lost, because his warnings were so often disregarded.
No man has suffered more personal vilification than he did, being demonised by the mass media, falsely accused of having behaved improperly - a charge that has been totally disproved - and physically attacked, as when a retired policeman struck him in the stomach with an iron bar in Derby in 1984, when we were speaking together at the May Day rally.
One of the most scandalous incidents took place in the coverage by the BBC of the events at Orgreave, as I learned for myself when I was speaking at a National Union of Journalists meeting attended by the BBC TV news team which had prepared the evening bulletin that reported the events.
The journalists told me that, when the film came in, it was clear that the police cavalry had charged the miners before a single stone was thrown.
However, they were told by whoever was in charge to reverse the order of the film to show the stones being thrown first, followed by the cavalry charge, thus giving the impression of a riot that the police had to control.
When the Orgreave riot trial came to court, Arthur subpoenaed the police video which had a time code on it, confirming exactly what had happened and resulting in the acquittal of the men charged.
Distinguished producer Mike Figgis has recently made a brilliant film that reconstructs those events, using the men who were there to show exactly what happened - it will be broadcast later this year.
Mrs Thatcher decided to destroy the mining industry as a punishment for what she believed the NUM had done to the Tory government in 1974, although, in truth, it was the electors and not the miners who defeated Ted Heath in that general election.
It gave me enormous pleasure that, after the 1984-5 miners strike, the Tories threw out Thatcher as Prime Minister and the miners re-elected Arthur as their president.
It was a recognition of his consistency and courage against the fiercest assault ever mounted against any union by any British government.
And Arthur was absolutely right in his response to that attack, because he knew what the Tory strategy was - to use the NUM as the precursor to an even wider attack upon the trade union movement generally through repressive legislation.
Much of that legislation remains on the statute book five years after a Labour government was elected in 1997.
It is one of the most dangerous myths put out by new Labour, echoing the press proprietors, that it was the resistance of the miners that made Labour unelectable in those years.
The truth is the exact opposite, for, if the Labour Party and the TUC had given the NUM the support that it needed, Mrs Thatcher would have lost that battle and Labour would have been elected in 1987 - 10 years earlier than it was.
Perhaps the greatest disaster for the country as a whole has been the loss of our mining industry and all the brilliant engineering skills of the brave men who worked in very dangerous conditions to give the country the energy that it needs for the future.
Britain's industrial revolution was built on coal, our goods were transported all over the world in coal-fired ships and the coal reserves that we still have today, under our territory, would have lasted a thousand years - it is now unobtainable because the industry was destroyed.
And now we are preparing for another war for Iraqi oil - the real objective for US President George Bush.
In reflecting about Arthur on his retirement, we should also remember his imaginative leadership and his personal courage at the Saltley coke depot and on many other occasions when he took personal leadership and was arrested and victimised for what he did.
The women's support groups gave brilliant leadership and inspired many others, including the Women of the Waterfront who backed he Liverpool dockers in their battles.
They helped many other workers, including those at Wapping when Rupert Murdoch tried to destroy trade unionism there.
Now the tide of public opinion is shifting and it is time that the NUM, Arthur, Pete Heathfield, Mick McGahey and their comrades should be recognised for what they did for us and why their struggle matters for the future, when we go back to coal, as we certainly will have to.
I wish Arthur were back with us in the Labour Party because we need him - but, whatever he decides to do, we all owe him a big "thank you" for his work.
Having known and worked closely with him over a span of nearly 30 years and enjoyed his friendship, I believe that it is important that we should understand and appreciate what he has done, the truth of what he said and what we lost, because his warnings were so often disregarded.
No man has suffered more personal vilification than he did, being demonised by the mass media, falsely accused of having behaved improperly - a charge that has been totally disproved - and physically attacked, as when a retired policeman struck him in the stomach with an iron bar in Derby in 1984, when we were speaking together at the May Day rally.
One of the most scandalous incidents took place in the coverage by the BBC of the events at Orgreave, as I learned for myself when I was speaking at a National Union of Journalists meeting attended by the BBC TV news team which had prepared the evening bulletin that reported the events.
The journalists told me that, when the film came in, it was clear that the police cavalry had charged the miners before a single stone was thrown.
However, they were told by whoever was in charge to reverse the order of the film to show the stones being thrown first, followed by the cavalry charge, thus giving the impression of a riot that the police had to control.
When the Orgreave riot trial came to court, Arthur subpoenaed the police video which had a time code on it, confirming exactly what had happened and resulting in the acquittal of the men charged.
Distinguished producer Mike Figgis has recently made a brilliant film that reconstructs those events, using the men who were there to show exactly what happened - it will be broadcast later this year.
Mrs Thatcher decided to destroy the mining industry as a punishment for what she believed the NUM had done to the Tory government in 1974, although, in truth, it was the electors and not the miners who defeated Ted Heath in that general election.
It gave me enormous pleasure that, after the 1984-5 miners strike, the Tories threw out Thatcher as Prime Minister and the miners re-elected Arthur as their president.
It was a recognition of his consistency and courage against the fiercest assault ever mounted against any union by any British government.
And Arthur was absolutely right in his response to that attack, because he knew what the Tory strategy was - to use the NUM as the precursor to an even wider attack upon the trade union movement generally through repressive legislation.
Much of that legislation remains on the statute book five years after a Labour government was elected in 1997.
It is one of the most dangerous myths put out by new Labour, echoing the press proprietors, that it was the resistance of the miners that made Labour unelectable in those years.
The truth is the exact opposite, for, if the Labour Party and the TUC had given the NUM the support that it needed, Mrs Thatcher would have lost that battle and Labour would have been elected in 1987 - 10 years earlier than it was.
Perhaps the greatest disaster for the country as a whole has been the loss of our mining industry and all the brilliant engineering skills of the brave men who worked in very dangerous conditions to give the country the energy that it needs for the future.
Britain's industrial revolution was built on coal, our goods were transported all over the world in coal-fired ships and the coal reserves that we still have today, under our territory, would have lasted a thousand years - it is now unobtainable because the industry was destroyed.
And now we are preparing for another war for Iraqi oil - the real objective for US President George Bush.
In reflecting about Arthur on his retirement, we should also remember his imaginative leadership and his personal courage at the Saltley coke depot and on many other occasions when he took personal leadership and was arrested and victimised for what he did.
The women's support groups gave brilliant leadership and inspired many others, including the Women of the Waterfront who backed he Liverpool dockers in their battles.
They helped many other workers, including those at Wapping when Rupert Murdoch tried to destroy trade unionism there.
Now the tide of public opinion is shifting and it is time that the NUM, Arthur, Pete Heathfield, Mick McGahey and their comrades should be recognised for what they did for us and why their struggle matters for the future, when we go back to coal, as we certainly will have to.
I wish Arthur were back with us in the Labour Party because we need him - but, whatever he decides to do, we all owe him a big "thank you" for his work.
Marxist_Mike